"Well... what kind of help are you looking for?" Sebastian asked.

Layla slid her tea out of the way, leaned forward and placed her arms on the table, giving him a look no man would ever say no to "There are a few things... one, I would like to know if you can help bring my mother back. Two, my friends are in trouble... I can hear Alyssa calling for my help, and when I try to see through her eyes, all I see is darkness."

Sebastian tapped his fingers on the table and looked at her with his lips tight. He would love to help bring her mother back, but knew it wouldn't be easy. "I can help you with your friends, that'll be no problem... as for your mother, that'll be a challenge."

Layla didn't like hearing that answer, she wanted to do whatever she had to do to bring her mother back, and was hoping for a better response. She lowered her head and turned to look at Alaric "I guess I'll worry about my mother later, let's get Alex and Alyssa home safe."

Sebastian stood up and had the two follow him into another room. As they followed Sebastian, Alaric watched where he was going, curious as to where he was bringing them. He had never seen this part of the home, and was shocked to see a new area "Wow Sebastian, I never knew about this area, it was hidden well."

"That's because it was off limits to you and your siblings... all my important belongings are in this area."

Sebastian brought them into a room, and had them sit down on the chairs at the table in the center of the room while he grabbed the things he needed. He sat down across from Layla and handed her a bottle "I need for you to drink this."

"Why, what is it?" she asked as she looked at what he handed her. The bottle had no label, the liquid was blue and was a little nervous to drink something she wasn't sure what it was, or what it would do.

Alaric leaned closer to her, placed his hand on her thigh, and whispered "Go ahead and drink it, he's not going to give you something that'll harm you, trust me."

"Thank you Alaric... Layla, that potion will help me see through your eyes, your mind, and it will bring me to where your friends are."

She popped the cork, took a deep breath and drank the blue liquid. While she was drinking the potion, Sebastian spoke in a language that had Layla's eyes widening. She thought it sounded creepy, and almost demonic. She reached for Alaric's hand, held it tight, and held it even tighter when Sebastian's eyes turned black, with a red tint in the middle. "Alaric." she whispered.

"Shh... let him do his thing."

"He looks and sounds like the devil." she whispered.

Alaric placed his pointer finger at his mouth, shushing her again.

Sebastian held out his hands, with his palms facing up, and asked for Layla to place her hands in his. She reached across the table, placed her hands in his and closed her eyes when he asked her to. Sebastian was then able to get into her mind, and listened for her friends cries. Once he heard Alyssa, he was able to get into her mind, and see what she was doing. "You're right Layla, all I see is darkness. Her eyes are open... so, that tells me they are in a dark room."

"Can you see where she's at?" Alaric asked.

"Give me a moment while I try and get into her memory..."

Sebastian was able to get into her memory, and rewind back to see where they were, and to see what happened. He watched on, and listened in on their conversations with Mason. He then saw what happened next, and opened his eyes. "I know where they're at..."

"Where?" Layla asked quickly.

"They're at a farmhouse at the edge of town, looks like they're locked into a room down in the basement. From what I saw, Alex is restrained on the ground, and Alyssa is able to move around."

"Farmhouse?" she asked confused. The only farmhouse she knew of at the edge of town was Mason's. Her heart dropped, and covered her mouth as her mouth opened wide "Oh my God! They're at Mason's... he's one of them!" She looked at Alaric and could feel her face becoming red, and her blood beginning to boil. "Now I know my whole fucking life was a lie. Everyone around me has done nothing but lie to me."

Alaric moved his chair closer to her, and wrapped an arm around her. He felt bad, and all he wanted to do was to console her and knew they didn't have time for that. He kissed the side of her head and rested his forehead against the side of her head. "Yes, you were deceived by many, but some were for good reasons, and some were not... let all that go for now, now that you know where Alex and Alyssa are at, we should get going, and get them out of there."

"I don't know, how can I even trust them? Everyone who I thought were my friends, have shown not to be."

Alaric shook his head "That's not true, remember Alex? You fed off him, you would have known right away if he was a treacher, you wouldn't have been able to do it, which is why you got yourself in trouble at the bar that time... as for Alyssa, I don't think she is one, when you and I both talked to her, she was scared. She would have blown it off and changed the subject, I honestly don't think she is."

"I know she isn't." Sebastian cut in "I would have known when I got into her memory, she is your one true friend."

"That's good to know, so now what?"

"I'll go talk to Frederick and fill him in on what's going on, then I'll grab Adrian, and Angeline, while you two get the box she had hidden for you. You're going to need it... tonight's the night you put an end to all the treachers." Sebastian said as he stood up. He walked over to Layla, had her stand up, and gave her a hug. It made him feel good to finally have her in his arms again, and felt much better letting her know that he was her father, a secret he had been hiding from everyone for a long time, and something he had been wanting to get off his chest.

"Just to let you know, I'll be making damn sure nothing happens to you, you've been away from me far too long as it is, and if I were to lose you again, I don't know what I would do."

"I won't be letting anything happen to her either." Alaric said looking up at them. He stood up and grabbed her hand "Well, let's go grab your supplies, come back here, and work out the plan of stopping them once and for all."

"What about Trevor?" she asked, after remembering he was still locked up.

"You bring him with, we know that either Trevor or Mason is the leader. You have one shot at using that special arrow... but first you'll need to figure out which one is the leader. Once you kill the leader, they'll die right away." Sebastian says walking them out.

Alaric quickly drove Layla to her house, grabbed her box of supplies they had hidden, then headed over to Alaric's to grab Trevor. Layla placed a spell on Trevor, making it so that he felt frozen, and wasn't able to move while they headed back to his parent's home.

On the way over there, she kept drilling Trevor on getting him to speak, and to tell her who the leader was. He knew either way he was going to be dead, and refused to open his mouth. She turned around and stared him in the eyes "You better tell me, I'll make life even more miserable for you."

"Never, figure it out on your own." he scowled, and looked out the window.

She didn't like his answer, and grinned while looking at him. Next thing Alaric heard was a God awful scream come out of Trevor's mouth and nearly had him driving off the side of the road "What the hell did you do to him?"

She giggled "I warned him I would make his life miserable if he refused to tell me who the leader was. So, since he's frozen, I made it feel like his head was being crushed." she turned to Trevor and insisted he tell her who the leader was, or she was going to do it again.

Later, after they all discussed their plans, and got everyone on the same page, they headed over to Mason's and parked on the road outside his property. They all stood outside their vehicles, and prepared themselves for what they were all supposed to do.

Layla, scared for Alyssa, walked over to Sebastian and pulled him to the side "Is there any way you can let Alyssa know that we're here for them?"

"No, but you can." he smiled. He placed his hands on the sides of her face, lowered her head, and kissed her forehead. "You are now able to speak to her, she'll be able to hear you, and will be able to respond back to you. Get her to relax, and let her know that you're here and that everything will be alright."

Alyssa had fallen asleep on Alex, and was suddenly awakened when she heard the door open. She sat up and tried adjusting her eyes to the light that was shining in. She held her hand up to her eyes, and focused her eyes on the person walking over to her. "Hello?" she asked scared "Mason, is that you?"

He laughed, and she knew instantly it was him "Why are you doing this?" she cried.

"You two are my bait, and boy did it work..." he kneeled to her level, and caressed her cheek "Nobody would tell me where Trevor was, and keeping you two here was the key... they're on their way over with Trevor." he smiled "Be glad I didn't tie you up."

"Why didn't you?" she asked, spitting in his face.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, all it takes for me is to spit at you, and you'll be gone once the spit hits your skin." he laughed "Alex will be the first one to die, he's restrained for being in on a trick, and deceiving Trevor. Now you, I figured I would be nice, and let you figure out how to get out of here... it's covered in bombs and will go off in about thirty minutes, exploding the entire house." He stood up, laughing and walked out of the room.

She felt little relief when he left, and saw that he left the door open. She had a feeling it was some sort of trap, and looked at Alex sighing. Once she saw how he was restrained, she tried figuring out how to get him out and began to panic as she looked around the room.

While looking she stopped and looked behind her when she thought she heard Layla's voice. "Layla?" she whispered loudly. She heard her voice again and listened to what she was saying. She smiled, and knew that her cries for help worked.

She figured she would try speaking to her again, wanting her to know what Mason told her, to let her know about Alex, and that she needed help getting him out of there before the house went up in flames.

Adrian and Angeline turned themselves into rats, and began working their way into the home. Alaric turned himself into a crow and flew from tree to tree, looking for Mason. While Adrian and Angeline were looking for Alex and Alyssa, Sebastian and Layla faced each other, held hands, and spoke together to cast the spell they came up with.

Sebastian then grabbed Trevor and began walking him closer to the house. Layla followed behind carrying the crossbow, and kept a look out for other treachers to show their faces.

The closer they got to the house, they heard and evil laugh, both turned their bodies in that direction, and saw Mason standing against a tree. "Let him go." he yelled out.

Sebastian dropped Trevor to the ground, and stepped back with his hands up. Layla looked down at Trevor and gave him the option of either telling her who the leader was, or to be tortured. He chose the the torture option. She shrugged her shoulders, spoke a few words, then began aiming at his arms, legs, fingers and snapping his bones in half each time she aimed at a part, causing him to scream.

Layla looked at Mason and shot electricity at him, causing him to fly backwards into the air. He laughed as he hit the ground and stood back up, he looked at his watch and saw the house would be exploding in about five minutes, and laughed "Your friends are inside, and this house is about to explode... what are you going to do about that?" he asked as walked closer to them.

Layla became nervous and worried when she couldn't get a hold of Alyssa. She was ready to take a chance on who the leader was, and walked over to Trevor. She got on her knees and talked to him, letting him know how she felt and why she was going to do what she was about to do any second.

With him having broken arms, and legs, she knew he couldn't fight back and smiled as she spoke "Goodbye Trevor, I'd say it was nice knowing you, but I can't. I'm glad you didn't get your way, and just to let you know, I'm marrying the love of my life, and that's Alaric. Now I'm going to get you out of my life forever."

He grinned, and chuckled "It was fun while it lasted, see you on the other side." As she placed her hands on the sides of his face, he kept a smile, and closed his eyes, knowing what was coming next.

"NO!" Mason yelled, as she snapped his neck, and bit into his neck, draining his blood.

Mason's image changed, the tentacles came out of his back, his face changed, and Sebastian looked over at Layla "At least we know who the leader is." he smirked.

Mason jumped into the air, and over to the top of a tree, he knew the house was going to explode any second and didn't want to be near it. Layla wanted to go inside to check on her friends, but was stopped by Sebastian. "I'm sure they're out and safe."

Layla sighed "I haven't seen any signs they were out, and no one is responding to me."

"Worry about yourself for now, I'm sure Adrian and Angeline have done the job they were supposed to do... now, do your job and get that bastard."

She looked at the house, breathed in deep and looked up at Mason, only to look up and see he wasn't there "Shit, he's gone." she said spinning in a circle. She pulled out the crossbow, the arrow, got it set up and held it up, looking for him as she walked around.

Sebastian began using his vision to see through everything possible and spotted him on the other side of the house. "He's that way!" he aimed, grabbing her arm, and running towards the other side of the house.

Just as they were running past the house, they both flew into the air as the house exploded.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!🤞🤞